Love Will See You Through by Angela Farris Watkins

The very idea that someone could write about the civil rights movement from the perspective of neice to Martin Luther King Jr baffles me. Martin Luther King? Your uncle? As I read this text, I was somewhat reminded of Arun Gandhi, who wrote Grandfather Gandhi, and the fabulous important story he tells there. Watkins structures her book completely differently (nonfiction vs. Gandhi's fiction), but the book is powerful and generative on its own ground.

King had six guiding beliefs that fueled his every move: have courage, love your enemies, fight the problem, not the person who caused it, when innocent people are hurt, others are inspired to help, resist violence of any kind, and the universe honors love. The author uses these beliefs as effective underpinnings of King's life and his many inspiring, life-changing, and world-changing actions. The illustrations powerfully support the text on each page, engaging the reader on a wide variety of levels and entrances. The author keenly includes religion in her text; much of King's work was based in his firm beliefs in Christianity and faith.

A worthwhile read and incredibly important story, I encourage you to seek this text out. It is powerful.